The Akatsuki: The Beginning
by Sabaku no Gnora
Summary: One group of friends, one dream: to be a band. "I could get used to this, yeah." Deidara declared, swinging an arm over the ever stoic Sasori. Even Pein almost smiled. Almost. But one thing was for certain: the future was looking promising for this small town band. And it was just the beginning. AU. Implied ItaSaku.


**Note:**

- Overused plot yes, but it's still MY story. So give it a chance, yeah? ;)

**- **Akatsuki members are 19-20 yrs of age (Tobi is 20). Sasu-chan and friends are 15-16 yrs of age. (Naruto is 15)

- **"Microphone talk"**. **_"Singing"._** _Thoughts._

- First Naruto-verse story, so please forgive any OOC-ness, or grammatical errors from my part.

**Don't own Fall Out Boy (sigh). Don't own Naruto. But if I did, I would have married Gaara by now, and Itachi would still be alive. Rated T for a shirtless, swearing Hidan.**

* * *

"Hey, did you hear about the concert at the Summit tonight?" The young Inuzuka announced excitedly to his lunch companions. He, Choji and Shikamaru were seated in a booth in Konoha's well known diner, Ichiraku's. It was small, holding four booths and two party tables, with a large counter that held room for four and stools. The walls were colored white with red bowls of ramen as decoration. The diner was well famed for its delicious food, and the great company it seemed to attract. Right now the place had just finished its afternoon rush hour shift, so business was pretty much slow, and the place was vacant except for the three friends and an old man reading his newspaper while a cup of coffee.

Choji barely registered the words out of Kiba's mouth as he finished his fifth bowl of the today's special, miso ramen soup with a side order of BBQ pork.

Seeing Choji absorbed in inhaling his food, Shikamaru sighed and turned to Kiba to answer for the both of them. _How troublesome._

"Yeah. I went to the Suna concert a while ago. That's how I knew that they would stop there as well."

Kiba gave Shikamaru a scandalous look. "You went to a concert… in Suna... with who?!"

Shikamaru cleared his throat. "It was a while ago dumbass. I was invited by a friend. And even I wouldn't say no to a free concert, alright?"

"Of course not…" Then Kiba gave Shikamaru a sly grin. "So this friend of yours… it wouldn't happen to be the Kazekage's daughter who visited Konoha last summer?"

Shikamaru was about to retort when the sounds of chiming bells signaled a new arrival at the diner. A tall hooded figure stood at the entrance. He walked to the counter with purpose and took a seat in one of the stools, and began perusing the menu in a cautious manner. _Never seen this guy before._ He wore black combat boots with a pair of dark wash jeans, and a gray military jacket that had a black hood. Though long strands of blond hair peeked out from under the hood, the new arrival was indeed male with the strong lean build hidden underneath his jacket. Shikamaru continued to stare at the newcomer and noticed him pulling on his hood to better cover his face. _If I didn't know any better, it would appear this guy doesn't want to be recognized here. _The owner's daughter then came out from the kitchen to take the new customer's order. The man lifted his head to address the girl. She suddenly began to blush, stuttering nonsense to the guy, _interesting reaction_. She left to the kitchen in a hurry, a dazed look on her face. _Hmm, was the guy ugly? _Shikamaru tilted his head a bit to get a better look.

"Get your head out of the clouds, will yah bro? This is a serious matter…" Kiba's words echoed off as Shikamaru's attention went back to the girl who appeared behind the kitchen door carrying the mystery man's order of dango and tea. She quietly placed the ceramic plate and cup in front of the him and left without a word. The hooded man looked around a bit in contemplation, before sighing and pulling down his hood to eat his food. Shikamaru eyes widened in recognition, "–like how are we going to sneak in to the Akatsuki's concert, man?"

The blond who had just picked up his tea to take a drink began to choke at Kiba's last statement. This only served to prove Shikamaru's guess at the blond man's identity.

"Come on Shika. You're the brains here. Give me a plan. Something. Anything..."

Finally noticing Shikamaru's startled gaze, Kiba turns around to see what was making his friend react such a way before being pulled back by an irritated Shikamaru. He was giving his friend a what-the-hell-are-you-doing look. "Are you alright? You're acting weirder than usual. Did you forget to call Temari or something?" Kiba added with a grin.

"Yes–I mean no! Nothing is going on between me and that troublesome woman, alright." Shikamaru finished with a blush before returning his attention to the blond man. He had finished his meal. He then took out his wallet to place more than enough money next to his finished plate. He then stood up, rolled his shoulder muscles a bit to relieve the tension he had beforehand, before casually pulling up his hood again. He turned towards the exit, and began to head to the door. All Shikamaru managed to catch were amused blue eyes. _Can it be ...?_

The man in question stood at the door for a second before deciding to grace his shadow audience, to meet Shikamaru's curious gaze. He then raised his hand to wave, showing off his tattoo of a smiling mouth etched on the palm of his hand. He then saluted a shooting handgun gesture. Chuckling at the stunned expressions he got from both Shikamaru and Choji, who had finally stopped eating to notice him, he then left the establishment with the ring of the bell.

"You guys look like you just saw a ghost or something." Came Kiba's amused voice after noticing the blank expressions on his friends.

Shikamaru was the first to recover, slouching back into his seat, throwing his head back as if to look up at the ceiling. He sighed. "Someone more troublesome."

* * *

"You're late."

Deidara grinned at the glaring red head who was seated on the black leather couch furnishing their joint dressing room. He kicked the door shut as he walked in to look around the room in search of his outfit for tonight's show. Having no luck Deidara looked at his temperamental friend.

Sasori sighed. "Right Side. Third hanger."

"Sasori my man, you're a life saver." Deidara walked across the room towards the dressers, where next to them was a pole that carried all their gear for each performance. As guide instructed, Deidara found tonight's outfit on the third hanger on the right side of the pole, still wrapped in its dry cleaning bag. Deidara quickly removed the plastic covering to inspect the various articles of clothing that made up his outfit.

He removed his jacket and started to pull off his shirt and throwing it towards the face of a scowling red head, who did not bother to remove it off his head in preference to laying down on the comfy couch. Satisfied with tonight's get up, a black jacket, red shirt and black leather pants, he sat at one of the dresser's stations so he could apply the black eyeliner that would complete the rocker image he was going for.

"Is that necessary for every show?" The muffled voice of his friend interrupted his concentration after finishing the part along his lower eye rim. Deidara spun in his chair to look at Sasori who was face down on one of the red pillows that were thrown on the couch.

"Well, Sasori-Danna, all famous rockers wear it. Which means I have to wear it as well. Keeping the tradition going, yeah." He responded before resuming to the task at hand. The left eye was a bit harder to apply than the right, so an even steadier hand is needed.

"Fascinating." Responded Sasori, though he didn't sound fascinated at all. Right then and there the door to their room opened, which caused Deidara to jerk his final stroke upward, making the pen poke his eye. "Shit!" He cursed, rubbing his eye to ease the pain.

"Sasori-senpai! Have you seen Dei– Deidara-senpai! You're here!"

Deidara sat frozen in his seat and began to tremble. _Tobi..._

"Senpai, why are you drawing on your face? Tobi has crayons in my dressing room. Senpai could have asked Tobi if he wanted to borrow them so senpai doesn't have to use black all the time …" Deidara lifted his face from the dresser and leveled a cold stare at Tobi. _Every night they go through the same annoying game of twenty questions, and the next day he would magically forget all of the answers._

"Tobi... I'm going to say this for the last time, and listen well: I am not drawing on my face. This is eyeliner." He gestured the eyeliner pen in his hand. "As in MAKEUP. Got it?" Deidara huffed. The masked man, _more like manchild_, didn't say a word so Deidara grabbed a tissue to clean off any excess eyeliner he may have put on because of Tobi's entrance.

"Tobi didn't know Deidara-senpai was a girl."

The box of tissue went flying towards him before Tobi even had a chance to dodge it. The box was followed by a hairbrush, then a can of hairspray and a bottle of frizz zapper. All items that Deidara had grabbed within reach from the dresser.

"OUT!"

Tobi didn't have to be told twice as he scurried out of the room, leaving a huffing Deidara standing in a crazed man stance as Pein walked into the room with a stoic face. He was oblivious to the scene that had occurred prior entering, so he raised an eyebrow at the killing intent Deidara was radiating. Deidara quickly straightened himself out if his crouch, dropping the blow dryer he had planned to throw letting it crash to the floor. That earned him another scowl from Sasori who woke up from his nap.

"You'll be paying for that."

"Leader! What a surprise, yeah? ..." Deidara sputtered out nervously.

Pein stood there, piercings covering the entirety of his face, in an outfit similar to his. The only notable difference being the shirt he wore was more of a maroon than red.

"Where have you been, Deidara?" He asked monotonously.

Deidara gulped. "Well you see... I was hungry. So I went out to eat, then took a walk and lost track of time. It won't happen again Leader-sama." Deidara added the suffix for good measure.

Pein looked far convinced, but decided to let it go in order to look for Konan. He needed help attending some of his piercings. He nodded at Sasori and turned away from Deidara. "See that you do."

A pregnant pause elapsed.

"As you were." Pein said before he walked out of the room, leaving the door wide open for anyone else to walk in.

Deidara sighed in relief. Tired from having unwelcome visitors popping in on them, he goes to close the door. As he does so, the door is once again pushed open, slamming Deidara, door and all, into the wall. Sasori flinched as he hears a crack followed by a groan from his idiot of a friend, but does nothing to get up and help him.

At the door, Kakuzu stood angrily in his black business suit and red tie, carrying a clipboard and pen in each hand. He walked in, looking around inspecting that everything was in order until he noticed the trail of destruction left after Deidara's rampage from earlier. He takes a few steps forward before stepping on the a broken blow dryer. Kakuzu was far from pleased.

"What's the meaning of this?" He gruffly asked Sasori, ignoring a groaning Deidara against the wall behind him.

Sasori just looked at him, then looked behind him to see Deidara getting his bearings and standing up. Kakuzu, who noticed Sasori's gaze, turned around and saw a dazed Deidara. He put two and two together and clicked his pen to scribble down on his clipboard. He tore out a sheet from his pad and handed it over to Deidara.

"That will be coming out of your pay."

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Have fun tonight gentlemen." He said, though what he really meant to say was 'make me money boys ' as he walked to the door closing it as he left.

"He has a point." Sasori was the first to break the silence.

"Who does, yea?" Deidara replied as he rummaged through the draws for something to relieve the headache that had begun to form.

"Make-up is for girls."

Deidara pinched the bridge of his nose. "Shut up."

* * *

**"Ladies and gentle rockers of Summit City! We present you Konoha's... the Akatsuki!"**

Adrenaline is running high as the crowd surrounding the stage grew larger and louder after the spokesperson's announcement. Over ten thousand seats, all filled, with audience members ranging from pre-teens to old geezers alike. A big venue, for a big turnout.

Swords of fire erupted from the floor along the edges of the platform as the Akatsuki's lead singer stepped on stage, an outburst of cheers filling the air.

Diedara's hair was now tied back in his signature high ponytail, with the long side bang covering his left eye. The only eye not hidden, cerulean blue in its depths, promised mischief, the corner of his lips lifting up to form a devilish grin. He winked at a group of girls behind the large barrier built between them and the stage, as he made his way to center stage with a mic at hand. Following Deidara on stage with his own cheers from the crowd is Hidan, who was smirking all the way to his drum set. His jacket was unbuttoned, revealing his well formed, bare chest. Then came Kisame, blue in skin tone and hair, grinning ear to ear with his bass, Samehada, strapped to his back; Sasori trailed right behind him as he too made his way over to his keyboard, impassive to the swoons of girls throwing themselves on stage for his attention, literally. Konan, the only female Akatsuki member, was sporting a red rose behind her ear. She blushed as she helped her high school sweetheart, Pein, strap on his guitar, while cat calls and whistles from the crowd were given to them for their rare display of public affection. Finally, the lead guitarist, Itachi, walked on stage carrying his own electric guitar casually on the side, pushing away dark locks away from covering his pools of onyx eyes.

All members present wore black military jackets with the signature red cloud printed on the back, with black pants, and shirts ranging in various shades of reds that suited each member's style.

Just as Deidara was about to speak into the mic, a young man with spiky, inky black hair came running in on stage. He carried a bundle of red, black scarves and bandanas. It is tradition for some of the members to give away Akatsuki merchandise during their show, today the merchandise would be Akatsuki trademark scarves and bandanas. The words 'give away' should be used loosely since Kakuzu always managed to hunt down those lucky and unlucky fans who managed to catch these items, to charge them double of what the actual thing had cost to make in the first place.

Tobi was already wearing a scarf haphazardly thrown around his neck, but the same can't be said by the other members. He threw a red scarf at Deidara, which landed on top of his head, hanging awkwardly over his uncovered eye. Deidara angrily ripped the scarf off as if it burned. He then quickly wrapped it around his neck in a suitable fashion all the while burning holes into the back of Tobi's head as Akatsuki's clumsiest member, hurriedly finished the task of flinging the rest of the garments to the remaining Akatsuki members. His actions also earned him glares from the rest of them.

Once finished, Tobi stood next to Konan with his tambourine and violin case in his arms. Feeling the cold stares radiating off of his fellow bandmates, he scratched the back of his head nervously, afraid to meet their gaze.

"Eh... Tobi is a good boy?" Tobi squeaked, intimidated by the vacant stare Sasori was especially giving him.

Konan sighed, never truly upset by Tobi's antics. "It's alright Tobi." Konan replied softly and smiled reassuringly at him.

Pein merely glanced at him before continuing on tying his bandana, the red cloud insignia bestowed proudly over his forehead, making his spiky hair rebel even further.

"Hn." Itachi, a man of few words, replied not really caring about his nineteen year old cousin's childish behavior. It was refreshing to him. _How he is an Uchiha is beyond me..._

"Whatever." Kisame said without looking up from his pre-show polishing of Samehada.

"... just don't do it again, yea." Deidara forced out through clenched teeth. He clearly still sounded peeved about the earlier incident in the dressing room.

Tobi jumped in place, mistaking Deidara's shaking for excitement. "No problem senpai! Tobi from now on will be a really, really good boy. Tobi will not call senpai a girl." Deidara twitched at the reminder, especially after earning snickers from the other Akatsuki members. "Tobi will be early for the next show. Tobi will not throw his scarf at Deidara-senpai's face. And-"

"Oh just save the fucking kissing up to later! If you haven't noticed, we have a fucking show to do right now," Hidan proclaimed, cutting Tobi's rambling short, "Jashin-sama will not be pleased if I'm late to tonight's fucking ceremony - again! So let's get this shit on the road!" Hidan, the potty mouth of the group, finally exclaimed.

Finally remembering the crowd of restless music lovers before them, Deidara grabs the mic, his melodic voice resounding into the piece all the way over towards the back of the outdoor arena.

**"Helloo Nation Cityy!"**

The crowd cheered wildly. Deidara's grin grew only wider.

**"We're the Akatsuki."**

_Damn these people sure know how to blow up an eardrum_, Deidara thought as he pitched his ear piece a bit to lower the volume of the crowd.

**"So how's everyone doing tonight, yeah?"**

'Good's hummed in the air, followed by squeals of 'We love you Dei-kun's which only boosted Deidara's already inflated ego.

**"Great, great... Nice to hear..." **Deidara's eyes narrowed as he spots a familiar tuft of spiky, inky black hair at the front of the crowd. He knows only of two people with that shade of black: one of them was on stage with them at the moment (sadly), and the other was the only kid that he knew of whose hair resembled the shape of a duck's rear. Said 'duck ass' tried to blend in the crowd, but failed miserably as he arranged an Akatsuki trademark SnapBack over his unruly hair. Deidara grinned devilishly as a plan formulated in his head.

"Psst! Ita-chan..." Itachi glared at him, but Deidara took that as an opportunity to continue. "Isn't that little Sasu-chan there with the hat?"

Said boy froze when he saw the blond idiot whisper to his older brother, all the while sending Sasuke an evil grin.

**"Oi! You with the red hat!..."**

_No... This can't be happening _Sasuke thought.

**"Yea you! Come on Sasu-chan! You know I'm talking to you!"**

_... !_

**"Well Sasu-chan. Fancy seeing you here, talk about a family reunion yeah, hmm Itachi?" **He announced through the mic as he nudged Itachi with an elbow. Itachi's eyes narrowed as he caught on to his foolish friend's attempt to humiliate his little brother. He won't hear the end of this at home tonight.

"Hn..."

**meanwhile...**

The crowd grew silent. In place of the loud noise of screaming fans was a buzz of murmurs that sounded like 'Who's Sasu-chan?', and 'Did he mean Sasuke?' and those who knew 'Ita-kun's brother?'.

Sasuke stood motionless. He had a mask of impassivity in place, though the inner turmoil he was feeling was fighting to vent out. He didn't even want to come here in the first place, but the _dobe_ and Sakura managed to coax him into securing the three of them tickets to his brother's sold out concert, hence his awful predicament.

What the blond idiot did was unacceptable. No one is supposed to know of that name. Itachi's idiot bandmates reserved the right to call him by his Kaa-san's pet name to annoy him. However, it was supposed to stay inside the family-friend-enemy circle. And Deidara just broadcasted it to most of the population in Konoha. It wasn't until he felt a hand softly touch his shoulder did he realize that he was shaking in anger. _How dare he..._

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura's voice brought him out of his reverie. She was dressed in a small pair of washed jean shorts, a red leather vest with a black tank top holding the famous red cloud insignia on the front. Her hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail, with sweat covered strands sticking out from behind her ear.

Sakura gave him an encouraging smile, but Sasuke refused to return it. Not after suffering through this humiliation. People were finally looking at him with bemused glances, while some girls were squealing at the prospect of getting a 'piece' of their _Itachi-kun_. He nudged her hand off his shoulder before walking away, getting lost in the sea of fans as others observed the scene with amusement. Leave it to Sasuke to go storming off in a middle of a concert because everybody knew he was the star's beloved little brother.

Sakura let her hand drop and sighed dejectedly. Since kindergarten, she had a crush on Sasuke, following him around with the group of fangirls that drooled over his every step. It wasn't until three years ago that she realized how ridiculous she was. Now, after getting to know the real Sasuke, and all his brooding glory, she realized that he will always be only a friend to her, and that she will never be the girl to love him properly. And whoever that girl was, she pitied her. However, it still hurts to this day that Sasuke, no matter how much she has tried to make up for her ridiculous behavior as a friend, still hasn't been able to open up to her like he has done with Naruto. Only time will tell, but lately she has been getting frustrated.

Next to her, an obnoxious blond with spiky hair stood up to go after him.

"It's alright Sakura-chan! I'll bring the bastard back!"

"Ey, Sasuke-teme!" His voice boomed throughout the venue. "Come on bastard! Stop being a bastard and watch the concert with us! ... Hey you listening?! Bastard! ..." Naruto's voice echoed as he dove deeper into the swarm of sweaty people in search of their brooding friend.

_Why did he have to be so loud _inner Sakura groaned. _You would think he was the one with the microphone, that Naruto-baka_. Ino, her other blonde friend, _honestly too many blondes in one day_, who also came to the concert before finding their group, came to put a reassuring arm around Sakura.

"Naruto will find him."

_That's what I'm afraid of_ she thought. Sakura forced a smile to turn her attention back on stage. "I hope you're right."

* * *

_Interesting_, Itachi thought as saw his little brother ditch his friends to brood in the comforts of his car. However, what intrigued Itachi more was not his brother's act as a petulant child, but the reaction that his pink haired friend show on her face as she looked back on the receding back of his brother - a look of deep longing and hurt. The girl stood there, with her eyes closed as her petite frame sagged in defeat. She had been rejected, yet once again by Konoha's Heartbreaker, second to Itachi. Or at least that is how it seemed to the stoic Uchiha.

Itachi's eyes narrowed. If he remembered correctly, this was the same girl who followed a much younger Sasuke, along with drooling fan club during his classes. Itachi himself grew up on the receiving end of many attentions from the opposite sex, _it's the price paid for having the good looks of an Uchiha sadly_, but he always managed to set his intentions clear to these girls so they would not grow up living a fantasy. Why his little brother never did the same is a mystery to him, especially if it's obvious that he was hurting his pink haired friend.

The girl lifted up her head to meet Itachi's gaze, letting Itachi catch a glimpse into the depths of those jade eyes. The girl blushed out before she turned away to wipe away the few tears that managed to escape. She then nervously resumed to fix the stray away pieces of hair from her face to distract herself from catching Itachi-san's gaze. However short the glimpse was, with it Itachi was finally able to put a name to the face of the girl who managed to capture his attention for more than a minute. At least after his mother.

Realizing that they will have to start the show soon before they had a crowd of disappointed, rowdy fans, he turned his attention back to Deidara who was handling the crowd with ease.

_Sakura. _He caught sight of the girl's hair once again and smirked,_ how fitting_.

**"Anyways... Back to business. Hidan! Drum roll yea!"**

Hidan grinned maliciously. "Barbie, it would be my fucking pleasure." Hidan said as he puffed out his bare chest, earning him cat calls an nose bleeds from the group of girls on the right side of the stage.

A vein popped out as Deidara glared daggers at Hidan, blue fire burning in his eyes that promised retribution for a later time. He composed his face and forced a smile on for the crowd.

**"So Konoha..." **He continued. **"Who's ready to Dance?"**

The crowd began to chant 'Dance' until the entire venue was vibrating from the excitement rolling off the fans.

Deidara smirked. **"This is 'Dance Dance' yeah."**

He grabbed the mic from the stand and turned around to look back at his bandmates. Itachi and Pein moved up towards Deidara, Strat guitars strapped and connected to their designated amps. Kisame had just about finished strapping Samehada onto his back as well as he positioned himself on the other side of Sasori. The crowd's cheers began to die down until the noise level became a quiet buzz of whispers. Deidara signaled to Konan and Tobi with a nod, violin and cello at the ready, and to Sasori who did the same with his synthesizer.

"One, two. One, two, three..."

* * *

**_"... See, he, tastes like you, only sweeter. Ohh..."_**

Hidan finished off the set with a hit to the symbols as Deidara finished the final chorus of the song. A few seconds later, the song was over.

**"Goodnight Nation Cityy!"**

The crowd roared, but on stage the Akatsuki looked pleased. Somewhere along the show, all members, except Konan and Tobi, managed to rid themselves of their scarves and bandanas, scattering them into the crowd of adoring fans. Hidan had taken his shirt at some point during the show, with the pretense that 'the place was fucking hot'. Hence the many nose bleeds that followed afterward in the crowd, from both females and males alike.

"I could get used to this, yea." Deidara declared, swinging an arm over the ever stoic Sasori. Though, his lips did twitch upward when he saw his name fly up many of the posters in being waved within the crowd.

Even Itachi was sporting a rare half smirk, half smile on his face, one that he reserved for special occasions, usually when patronizing Sasuke, though this time around, for another reason entirely. During their final song, when Itachi finished his solo for the bridge, he removed the red scarf wrapped around his neck and threw it into the crowd. Low and behold, the scarf landed on the one girl he had been thinking all night about. The stunned face of on pink haired girl was priceless. Though it was not his intention in the first place, he could not resist the temptation of sending the girl a wink when her eyes met his own. Then and there was when he decided that he never saw a girl more beautiful than her, especially with a blush like hers that rivaled with the shade of her hair. _Hn. Foolish little brother indeed._

Even Pein almost smiled. Almost. Or maybe his lower lip piercing was bothering him again.

But one thing was for certain: the future was looking promising for this small town band.

And it was just the beginning.

**Fin.**

* * *

**A/N: Reading Naruto fics late at night while listening to Fall Out Boy. And so a story was born. I have an idea to turn this into a multi-chappie fic. BUT that will depend on how this little bad boy does, favorites and reviews wise. So that being said, who knows. ****Feedback in the form of a review would be awesome, no pressure though. Until next time.**


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